The present invention relates to a device known as a stream adjuster.
In the printing industry, shingling of streams of paper is one of the basic processes utilized in web printing. Shingling originally started out as a means to handle increased production speeds. A single file stream spaced by copies width typically travels at a surface speed which can be six times higher than shingled copies with a 2xe2x80x3 shingle pitch. As the years have passed, many additional pieces of equipment such as folders, trimmers, and stackers have assumed that the incoming stream of copies to be processed would be shingled. One of the well known methods of shingling is know as the fly shingling apparatus which is relying on precise mechanical timing such that it contributes to lower products which can be as low as 50% of the design speed of the web press which it serves.
One of the problems associated with high speed operation of many of these devices is that if the incoming stream of product is not precisely aligned, and spaced, problems will occur.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a steam adjuster which can handle misaligned product.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for adjusting paper copies comprising an input conveyor, a singulating device having a vertically moving gate member, a first abutting surface formed on the movable gate member, a second fixed abutting surface formed rearwardly of the movable gate member, means for moving the gate member vertically in a reciprocal manner; and an output conveyor to receive copies from the singulating device.
The stream adjuster of the present invention permits the straightening and shingling of misaligned copies and can be used as a portion of an integrator machine wherein two sets of stream adjusters can process two incoming streams of copies from two individual conveyors in order to integrate them into one stream. The stream adjusters can be perfectly timed to work together so that both streams of books which meet together at one point accurately overlap one another.
The stream adjuster of the present invention can also be incorporated in other copy handling apparatuses and such machines are well known in the art.